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Highest time usually would day boredom today
were at South Park skating rink ended

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ice skating season it is time we have

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a new coating of snow this morning but
finally the weather has cooperated to get

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some outdoor ice going and we're happy
to let the public know that we do have

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skating opportunities now at the New South
Park Carolyn period rink and then up at

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the athletic field and for

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a while read we did not have outdoor skating
rinks right now we always had at least

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a rink at the athletic field but South
Park in the other neighborhood rinks have

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been closed for about eight years due to

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a private donation the gift to the city
of Reading from the periods family Jim

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period in honor of his
sister Carol and he's made

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a gift back to the city and so for three
years he's funding our reopening South

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Park rink and we're very appreciative of
that is an expensive proposition to get

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a rink going I would just think you get the
whole of out and water on the floor and

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know where you go it is expensive and the
reason the rinks were close eight years

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ago was due to financial the situation
at the city cutting back on expenses and

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cutting back on park employees things like
that especially so does take manpower to

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do it we've been waiting for the weather
to get cold Finally after that Christmas

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holiday it started where we could flood
the rink it takes ten to twenty floods to

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kind of get enough ice to get started plus
just prepping the grounds before that

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and now clearing snow things like that
so it is time consuming but we're very

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appreciative great outdoor recreational
opportunity for our residents again still

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and how many days a week are the
Rings open they're open seven days

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a week are ours are four to eight on Mondays
through Fridays and then one to eight

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clock on weekends or school holidays and
typically the weather stays cold through

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February this year we had a later
start so we can spread our budget out

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a little longer we do have

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a budget for manning the warming houses
once that money is used up sometimes that

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causes us to close the warming House also
and is that of those the hours that the

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actual rinks are open or just

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a warming out as can we. I'm here and skated
two o'clock in the morning if we want

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to correct there won't be any lights here
but the warming houses and the lights

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would be turned on when the warming houses
are manned So those are four to eight

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week days one to eight on weekends so if
you're all hearty you can come on here

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it's great when the warm and always aren't
going yes and we do see that I mean

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there's

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a we do see the people mornings if the
residents had maybe retired or work

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shifts or whatever and then even
before the warming house opens

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a lot of times rinks are busy with kids
skating as they got off the school bus here

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at the South Park location is

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a school bus drop off I think that's helped
also with our initial numbers here is

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we're just opening look really great at
South Park and you have skate around no

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rental there yet free to use. Skates
started ten or twelve years ago with all

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warming house down at the cobble school
area the gentleman that was the long time

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warming house attendant started putting out
requests on party line and whatnot for

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donations for skates started collecting
those and lo and behold we have

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a free skates really to use at the rings
both at the athletic field and at South

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Park also right else Gateshead rink that
went out of business in the southern part

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of the country and got some returns
rental skates back and some of the bronze

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skates you see behind us here are actual
right rental skates from some years ago so

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and lots of kids come in today and
back in our days I think we all owned

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a pair of skates and today I don't think
you see that as much so these skates you

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see on the wall are well
used and I'll just put out

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a plea if anyone does have skates that
they're looking to donate you can contact me

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a community reckon we'll get them back out
to the rink for kids to use it does not

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smell like wood smoke and here it's been

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a long time since I was in the South Park
warming but I used to smell it would stop

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when you put your mittens on the stove or
they were all full of snow and you put on

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there to go it's you know we talked a
little bit before time about that in we had

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a grand opening which Imperius
who lives in the Washington D.C.

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Area flew by. Back and had

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a grand opening Unfortunately this year the
weather didn't cooperate we had no ice

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to show off. About summer twentieth date
that we were back here but everybody that

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was here for that. And reception did talk
about the whole warming How's the wood

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smoke and the wood stove and drying mittens
and just coming in wet and cold and

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burning mittens was

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a yeah but we all survived it and those
are great memories and today the warming

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houses at both the athletic field and
South Park are great condition this is

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a nice brick building and they have bathroom
facilities here there's picnic tables

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in that people sit on

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a bench is around the walls so they're very
nice facilities nice place to hang out

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thanks Dave the place you have to thank
you you can monitor South Park Ranger

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athletic field is another one there I'm
Tom Hughes thanks for watching Redwings

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Channel six.